Cespedes Wins Home Run Derby

Cespedes, representing the American League, beat Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier 9-1 in the final round. A year ago, the Oakland Athletics left fielder won at Citi Field in New York in his derby debut.

Hitting off Athletics third base coach Mike Gallego, Cespedes belted a number of impressive drives, including ones of 452 and 446 feet to the second deck in left-center field. His other homers in the final round traveled 409, 420, 396, 377, 380, 422 and 381 feet.

The nine homers averaged 409 feet.

Frazier's lone home run traveled 393 feet and came off his brother, Charlie.

In a new twist to the derby, the competition went to bracketed play after the first round in which 10 hitters — five from each league — participated. Following the opening round, the last two finishers in each league were eliminated, and the first-place finishers received byes to the semifinals.

In the NL semifinal, Frazier blanked Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, 1-0. That came after Frazier downed Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki 6-2 in the second round.

Cespedes downed Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista 7-4 in the AL semifinal after beating Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones 9-3 in the second round. Bautista hit 10 home runs in the first round, the most of any competitor, but he did not take advantage of his bye into the semis.

Stanton, who has not hit a home run in his past 56 at-bats, led all NL hitters with six home runs in the first round to gain a bye. He hit a 430-foot shot that reached the seats above the batter's eye in center field and a 422-foot blast into the upper deck in left field.

Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig, who failed to homer in seven swings, was one of the four players eliminated in the first round, which began an hour late because of rain. Also failing to advance were Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson, Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier and Rockies first baseman Justin Morneau.

The flamboyant Puig became the first player to go homerless in the derby since Robinson Cano in 2012. Oddly enough, Jose Cano, Robinson's father and a former Houston Astros pitcher, threw to Puig.

Starting pitchers: To no one's surprise, Mariners ace Felix Hernandez was named the American League starter in Tuesday's All-Star Game.

But Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had a much tougher choice and ultimately went with his own pitcher, Adam Wainwright, over Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw as the National League starter.

"This is one of the coolest things I can ever say I did, to start a big-league All-Star Game," Wainwright said.

Matheny called it a "tough decision," and said it wasn't narrowed down to just Wainwright and Kershaw, the major league leader in ERA and WHIP.

So why go with Wainwright?

"From the leadership right down to the execution and day-in, day-out performance of what Adam has been able to do, it really is kind of an unfair advantage to the others," Matheny said. "The numbers line up, and it's obvious this is a high-caliber pitcher who I believe in some degree has never been given the amount of respect that he's due."

Cut and paste: Rays pitcher David Price may be traded by the end of the month, and it won't be to the Cubs. But Price will be a free agent after 2015, and when asked by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch if "immediate success" was a priority, he gave a surprising answer.

"Winning absolutely is something you want to do," Price said. "Being a part of something special is also something you want to do. You can take that to a first-place team. You could take that all the way to a last-place team like the Cubs.

"With the talent they have coming up they could be a very special team in a few years as well. ... They haven't done it in I'm not sure how long. To do that there, that would be the coolest city to win a championship in right now."

Derby Day: Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is third in National League homers with 20, while White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu leads the majors with 29. Neither was in the Home Run Derby on Monday night, though Abreu was asked to participate by AL captain Jose Bautista.

"He asked me if I would be interested, and I had to think about it," Abreu said. "But coming into the season, that wasn't a goal of mine, that wasn't an objective — to hit in a Home Run Derby. If life gives me the opportunity in the future and I feel like it's the right opportunity, I'd be happy to, but this year, it wasn't something I felt interested in."

Rizzo understood why he wasn't asked, since he didn't make the NL team until the Final Vote.

"Honestly I think I'm going to enjoy soaking it all in and being able to sit back and watch it," Rizzo said. "Obviously if the opportunity ever presented itself, I'd definitely love to. But I have no problem sitting back and watching the big boys hit some homers."